It was Rune’s third win out of a possible three against the Italian, and at the same time his 44th indoor win since the start of 2022. He created 13 break points over the course of the two hour and 11-minute contest, converting two.
The time was 00.50 CET Wednesday morning when Rune took advantage of his second match point with a terrific passing shot from the forehand.
Three days after Rune won two matches on the same day and contributed to the Danish Davis Cup triumph against Serbia, Rune seemed very focused on court.
He had chances to break serve time and time again in Sonego’s games and broke to 2-1. He also had the chance to make it 4-1, but the Italian held on for 2-3 and then broke even for 3-3 when he played three terrific points in a row.
Rune had as many as seven break chances against Sonego in the first set, but often got too passive when he had the chance, and Sonego escaped by producing an unlikely winner.
Thus it ended in a tiebreak, where Rune showed his true strength when it really mattered and won it 7-4.
This scenario continued in the second set. Rune had plenty of chances to break, but Sonego kept himself in the game with scintillating tennis in decisive moments.
“He plays amazing tennis every time I can break”, Rune shouted in frustration.
The two players held serve until 5-4 when Rune again produced a couple of break points and duly converted by taking advantage of his second match point.
In the second round, Rune will face Pedro Martinez, who is world number 44. He beat compatriot Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-3, 6-2 earlier on Tuesday.
In a possible quarter-final, Rune will potentially face top seed, Carlos Alcaraz.
